U.S. index futures are trading mixed in pre-market on Thursday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached new closing records. Investors are eagerly awaiting the May jobs report, to be released on Friday, hoping to detect signs of weakness in the labor market, which could support potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

At 6:47 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) fell 22 points, or 0.06%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.01%, and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.08%. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.295%.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July rose 0.41% to $74.37 per barrel. Brent crude for August rose 0.32% to near $78.65 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange increased by 0.96% to $115.89 per metric ton.

Thursday’s economic agenda starts at 8:30 AM, with the Commerce Department releasing the April trade balance, with a forecast deficit of $76.1 billion, according to the LSEG consensus. Simultaneously, the Labor Department will publish jobless claims for the week ending last Saturday. Also at 8:30 AM, the first-quarter productivity and labor cost readings will be released.

European markets are performing positively, driven by investor expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will implement the first interest rate cut in the euro area since September 2019. This anticipation is creating an optimistic atmosphere among market participants, reflected in gains in the region’s major stock indices.

Asian and Pacific stock markets mostly closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by the optimism generated by Wall Street’s record highs the previous day. The enthusiasm for advancements in artificial intelligence technologies and growing expectations of interest rate cuts in the United States were the main market catalysts. Shanghai SE in China fell by 0.54%, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.55%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased by 0.28%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.03%, and Australia’s ASX 200 grew by 0.68%.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks surged, driven by gains in previous sessions. The highlight was the Nasdaq and S&P 500, which reached new closing records at 17,187.90 and 5,354.03 points, respectively. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones saw a modest gain of 0.25%, closing at 38,807.33 points. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) led gains in the tech sector, also boosting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

An ADP report indicated that U.S. private sector job growth slowed more than expected in May, with an increase of 152,000 jobs, below the expected 173,000 and the downwardly revised 188,000 in April. This, along with the services PMI jumping to 53.8 in May from 49.4 in April, fueled market optimism.

Scheduled to report quarterly results before the market opens are Nio (NYSE:NIO), Ciena Corp (NYSE:CIEN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), Toro (NYSE:TTC), J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM), ABM (NYSE:ABM), Secure Works (NASDAQ:SCWX), Addex Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ADXN), QuantaSing (NASDAQ:QSG), Orion (NASDAQ:OESX), among others.

After the close, results are awaited from DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU), Samsara (NYSE:IOT), Rent The Runway (NASDAQ:RENT), Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE), Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN), Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), NGL Energy Partners (NYSE:NGL), Tillys (NYSE:TLYS), Mission (NASDAQ:AVO), Planet Labs (NYSE:PL), and more.

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